Almost one in five Australian bird and mammal species is at high, very high or extreme risk from the bird flu virus now spreading in Australia, according to data published on the federal environment department’s website on Tuesday evening.

Five bird species are assessed as being at extreme risk, meaning that they cannot survive where the virus occurs. They include the Christmas Island frigate bird, the Herald petrel, Houtman albatross, imperial shag on Heard Island and imperial shag on Macquarie Island.

The highest-risk marine mammals are the sea lion, fur seal and elephant seal, and the highest risk land mammals are the Tasmanian devil and eastern quoll. Eight species of dolphin are at risk and one, the common dolphin, is at very high risk.

The risk category of each animal has been calculated by assessing both the susceptibility of the animal to the disease and the animal’s conservation status. Animals with limited ranges or those that congregate in habitats known to be prone to the transmission of the H5N1 virus – such as colonies of waterbirds – are considered to be at higher risk.

An animal categorised as at high risk faces severe reduction in population or viability, very high risk describes those facing very severe population decline, while those in the extreme risk category may face extinction.

“Most Australian animals are found nowhere else in the world,” says the analysis. “This means the potential impacts of H5 bird flu are hard to predict.”

The chief executive of the Invasive Species Council, Jack Gough, said he was shocked at the level of risk described in the document and expressed frustration at the way the data, which the environment sector has been waiting on for weeks, was issued late in the day without any notice.

“This is a list of doom that demands a serious response, but instead we have had cuts to on-ground environment programs nationally,” he said.

“The fact that they have got this list where almost one in five of Australia’s mammals and birds is at a risk of severe, or very severe population reduction or extinction, and they haven’t massively invested over the last few years in scaled-up protections for our wildlife is an indictment on the government.

“To give you an idea of the sheer scale of this disaster, even the pelican and the ibis are at very high risk, all but one species of penguin is at high risk or greater than that. Even the cassowary is there. It is hard to grasp the scale of this tragedy, because it is so broad. Even with bushfires or the algal bloom they were geographically defined disasters.

“This will hit all over the continent.”

On Monday, Environment Minister Murray Watt confirmed that bird flu was transmitting in Australia after a mass death of terns in South Australia over the weekend was confirmed to have been caused by the H5N1 virus, which has already appeared on every other continent over the past five years, killing hundreds of millions of animals.

He noted that $113 million had been committed by the federal government in bird flu surveillance, preparedness and response measures.

But he said Australia was well-prepared, having learned lessons from watching the spread of the disease around the world and through investments in protecting vulnerable animals.

This was challenged by the Biodiversity Council’s lead councillor, Professor Hugh Possingham from the University of Queensland.

“If Australia’s wildlife is better prepared for H5 bird flu because of recent investments, we ask the government to report to Australians exactly what has been done and what difference it has made.”

“Australia has 183 waterbird species, including 149 that congregate in large numbers and are therefore at greater risk of mass outbreaks. We also have 10 species of seals and sea lions that could be severely affected.

“A handful of projects would not justify a claim that Australia’s wildlife is broadly better prepared for a threat of this scale.

“The vast majority of conservation needs go unfunded, so we are asking the government to be transparent about how species, locations and actions are being prioritised, and how the outcomes were monitored and reported.”

Another member of the council, Professor Stephen Garnett from Charles Darwin University, said the list was valuable, but was almost too late because the virus was already here.

“Had the assessment been available earlier, we could have used it to guide preparation, such as testing vaccines on the most at-risk species.”

Gough said even as the environmental sector was bracing for the impact of bird flu, environmental funding was cut in the last budget.

Only by ramping up efforts to reduce pest species such as cats, foxes and pigs, and by protecting what is left of habitats, will some of these species survive the catastrophe, he said.

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Nick O'Malley is National Environment and Climate Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is also a senior writer and a former US correspondent.Connect via email.